Tesla Model S Vehicles are Delayed

These refreshed Model S's have been sitting at the Tesla temporary lot for weeks collecting dust. Left photo is from June 13th. The top right photo is from July 5th and the bottom right photo is from July 20th. There's been essentially no change. What's the deal? pic.twitter.com/EfzTQ6ynLh— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 22, 2021

There has been news around Twitter of a parking lot full of Model S Tesla vehicles in Fremont, CA. There has been speculation as to why this is happening. Let's see what people are saying:

Waiting for Chips due to Chip Shortage

Sawyer Merritt sees a chip shortage as a not likely scenario due to Tesla Model 3 and Model Y shipping and not being delayed. However, the S/X may use a different chip set, which could explain the delay in these Model S vehicles.

It could be possible that there is a chip shortage that is causing the Model S vehicles to be delayed, but this doesn't seem like the most likely scenario, otherwise we'd see other vehicles besides Model S.

Not Delaying the Model 3/Y Lines

Ross Gerber thinks that what could be happening is that the Model S vehicles are being held up so they don't interfere with the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y lines and that computer chips are being prioritized for the Model 3 and Y.

They don’t want to mess up y and 3 production lines. So they are holding S until they have the chips. They had fully stopped S production in Q1.— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) July 22, 2021

The consensus from Twitter users seems to be that the Model 3 and Model Y should be prioritized as Tesla's leading selling vehicles and that if there is a parts shortage, the Model S vehicles should be delayed. This may also make sense if Tesla is getting close to a wide release of its full self-driving. If that is true, the more vehicles Tesla sells, the better.

Containment Hold for Model S and Model S Plaid

According to Tesla Daily, who has been reading the TeslaMotors forum, it's possible a containment hold could be on for about 1,500 Model S and Model S Plaid vehicles. This could be a software update that is needed or some kind of quality check that needs to be done. If there really is 1,500 vehicles, that's a pretty good production rate.

I think this is the most likely answer, that there is a containment hold and that there is some necessary software or hardware updates needed or additional quality checks that requires the vehicles to be on site before they are shipped to customers.

What do you think about the Model S delay for Tesla? Is it due to a containment hold? Is it something else?

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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.